Vegan Lentil Salisbury Steak

This is hands down one of my most favorite things I have ever created. I have been playing around a lot with using different beans and legumes as protein replacement, and I had a thought of one of the most comforting meals I used to have as a kid. My mom used to make Salisbury steak with mushroom gravy. Then I realized, that mashed lentils look very similar to beef. Add some seasonings, and Ta Da! Vegan lentil Salisbury steak. It is so freaking good.

To give this Salisbury steak the perfect texture as well, I used vital wheat gluten to make it “meaty” and bread crumbs to mimic an actual Salisbury steak. It takes about 5 minutes to put these together. Considering I suppose that your lentils are already cooked. Although, lentils cook much faster than most dried beans and legumes. However, if you are short on time for cooking lentils, Trader Joe’s has fully cooked lentils in their produce section!

Now on to another very important part of this dish, the mushroom gravy. It is optional of course, but I definitely recommend it. Not only is is delicious, it really makes this whole dish come together to fake out any meat eater. Also, it is so quick and easy, and fool proof, I don’t know why you would skip it!

If you don’t fall madly in love with this meal, I would be very surprised. Serve it with some potatoes and something green, you know, to make it look healthy and stuff!

It is really the perfect fall and winter comfort food. However, even though it looks heavy, it is not, and would be a great meal all year. Vegan lentil Salisbury steak is a very real thing, and it is a very important turning point in our lives.

Lentils mimic Salisbury steak so beautifully in my vegan take on this classic dish. Smothered in mushroom gravy, it is so delicious, super easy and filled with protein!

Course:
Main Course

Author: Lauren Hartmann

Ingredients

Lentil Salisbury Steak

2C.Cooked Lentils

1C.Vital wheat gluten

1C.Bread crumbs, vegan

1/2C.Vegetable broth

1/4C.Soy sauce

1Tbsp.Liquid smoke

1/2tsp.Salt

1/4tsp.Black pepper

1Tsp.Olive oil

Mushroom Gravy

2tsp.Olive oil

8oz.Mushrooms, sliced

3ClovesGarlic, chopped

3Tbsp.Vegan butter

3Tbsp.All purpose flour

2C.Vegetable broth

1/2tsp.Sage, dried

1/2tsp.Thyme

Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

Make the Salisbury steak first. In a medium sized mixing bowl, add the cooked lentils. Using either a potato masher or fork. Mash the lentils until they are almost all mashed, leaving a bit of texture.

Now add all the remaining Salisbury steak ingredients to the bowl except the olive oil, that is for cooking them. Start to stir to mix the wet and dry together, then using your hands, continue to mix until fully combined. Then knead together the mixture, knead for a few minutes until it forms a nice dough ball that isn't sticky any more. (The longer you knead them, the firmer they will be)

Now taking large balls of dough, roll then flatten to look like steak. Repeat until you have formed all the dough into "steaks".

Heat the olive in a cast iron skillet or non stick pan on medium high. Now add the steak to the pan, as many as you can fit. You can do it in batches. Cook the lentil steaks on each side for 2-3 minutes until brown and cooked through.

Remove the steaks from the pan, and set aside while you make the gravy.

Now make the gravy, heat the olive oil in the same pan on medium high, add the mushrooms and garlic. Saute for a few minutes sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper. Saute until soft and a bit brown. Remove the mushrooms from the pan and set aside.

Reduce heat to low. Now add the vegan butter and flour. Whisk together and cook for 1-2 minutes to make a roux. It should be a bit thick and paste like.

Now add the veggie broth, whisk to combine. Simmer until it has thickened 2-4 minutes. Now add the mushrooms back to the pan, and the spices. Stir. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Now either add the steaks back to the pan and cook with the gravy for a minute, then serve. Or put the steaks on a serving dish, and cover with gravy! Serve with veggies and carbs!

Recipe Notes

I used green lentils, but any lentils will do.

Make sure the "steaks" aren't too thick, or they won't firm up as much in the center.

Anne

Lauren Hartmann

October 27, 2017 at 12:31 pm

Yes! So delicious! This recipe makes about 8 steaks. Maybe more if they are smaller. So, it can definitely feed a crowd. I have not tried freezing them, but, I think it would work. Then just reheat in a skillet. I hope that helps!

Lauren Hartmann

Nicole Bizjak

November 2, 2017 at 12:27 am

I cooked this recipe and made three variations of it. I doubled the recipe, made the Salisbury steaks, lentil “meatballs” rolled in panko crumbs, and stuffed mushroom caps with the same filling- all with the mushroom gravy.

The mushroom caps were a nice variation to your recipe. I started by sprinkling the meatballs with the Panko crumbs, but I found it was easier to roll small meatballs in Panko crumbs first and stuff them in baby Bellas. I baked the for around 18 minutes at 350 until the crumbs were brown.

I love your site. Thanks for the inspiration on my new plant-based journey!

Lauren Hartmann

Beth Purdon

Lauren Hartmann

November 4, 2017 at 9:45 pm

There really isn’t any replacement, it gives it the “meaty” texture and helps it stick together. I would recommend using extra gluten free bread crumbs and maybe a flax egg and making Salisbury steak meatballs. That way you can just make them small and they would have a better chance of holding together, and still be delicious. They will be a different texture, but I bet still amazing! I hope that helps!

Cara

Lauren Hartmann

November 4, 2017 at 9:42 pm

There isn’t really anything that replaces vital wheat gluten, it gives it a “meaty” texture and helps it hold together. I do think that trying garbanzo bean flour could work and adding flax seed would help to hold it together. It just won’t be the same texture, but I think it would still taste good!

Lauren Hartmann

November 7, 2017 at 2:50 pm

I’m so glad you liked it! That sounds amazing! I love lima beans. I always use a cast iron skillet for gravy and sauces. Also just to make any protein crispy too! I have been using veggie stock from Trader Joe’s a lot recently. It is pretty dark. Also, if you want to make it a bit darker, you can use some soy sauce to replace some of the salt you add!

Amy

Lauren Hartmann

November 8, 2017 at 8:28 pm

I have had a lot of questions about this, so I think I will try to test something out. I was thinking about replacing it with a gluten free flour and a flax egg. It will not be the same texture, because there really isn’t anything that replaces vital wheat gluten. However, I was thinking that replacing it and using gluten free bread crumbs, it might hold up well and still taste amazing. I would give that a try, and I will let you know what conclusions I come to!

Hi! I made these tonight, they were a hit! I just have one question, is it 2 cups of cooked lentils or 2 cups of dried lentils cooked to make about 5 cups of lentils. I used 2 cups of cooked lentils and ended up adding extra wheat gluten (I didn’t do the best job draining the lentils 🙂 ). My texture was a little chewy which I figured was from the extra wheat gluten, but either way it was a hit with the whole family! Thanks so much for such a great recipe. I’m looking forward to trying more of your awesome looking recipes!

Lauren Hartmann

January 2, 2018 at 11:52 pm

It is 2 cups cooked lentils. If it was too wet, adding a little extra vital wheat gluten or breads crumbs is fine. The longer you knead the dough the firmer it will be though. So you can knead it for a few minutes until it feels nice and firm. I hope that helps!❤ I’m glad you like it!

Francine

Lauren Hartmann

Shauna Sanchez

January 11, 2018 at 10:16 am

The flavors in this were really good! I agree with above comments that mine wasn’t a very “meaty” texture in the center-it is relatively soft. I make them about 1/2″ thick, but I think next time I am going to try to get them a little thinner, knead longer (I did 5 mins, but I think 7-8 might do the trick), add more wheat gluten (my mixture was slightly wet which could have been the problem). Thanks for the recipe and the inspiration! My omni mom and brother really enjoyed it as well-my mom asked for the recipe!

Oh my gosh, these came out so well! Will definitely be making this again! I cheated and bought pre-made mushroom gravy and lamented the fact I didn’t have any potatoes on hand for mashed potatoes to go with it all, but I’m going to remedy that tomorrow night with the leftovers. Will saute up some mushrooms to put in the leftover gravy. And next time I’ll make the gravy from scrath. Thanks for the great recipe!
Oh, and I didn’t have soy sauce so I substituted Bragg’s Aminos. The steaks were a little salty so next time I will leave out the additional salt.
So good, thank you for this keeper!

Lauren Hartmann

February 12, 2018 at 4:25 pm

You could use liquid aminos. Braggs makes a good one and Trader Joe’s makes liquid coconut aminos. They taste very similar to soy sauce without the soy!😁 You should be able to find some kind of liquid aminos at most stores!

Jozie

February 12, 2018 at 4:16 pm

Thank you for the quick reply! Unfortunately, the liquid amino at our grocery store is derived from soy beans. We’re waiting on a nut allergy test for my allergic daughter (as of now she’s allergic to milk, eggs, soy, hazelnuts, and peanuts) so if everything comes back negative we’ll try the coconut amino from Trader Joe’s. (Sorry if i give tmi, my family is very new to being vegan and having a lo with so many allergies)

Alex

February 19, 2018 at 4:13 pm

Just made this using textured vegetable protein a.k.a. TVP from Bob’s Red Mill instead of vital wheat gluten. It’s gluten free, high protein, and made of soy for anyone who was looking to make this recipe gluten free! (or anyone who couldn’t find wheat gluten in their supermarket, like me ☺️) It has great meat-like texture and holds the steaks together well… Definitely a successful substitute!

Lauren Hartmann

Diane P

February 23, 2018 at 9:12 am

So…after reading all these bomb-ass reviews, I will be making these for dinner tonight!!! I have been infatuated with Sarah’s Vegan Kitchen’s BBQ Ribs with Jackfruit as an after-the-gym protein-packed meal and have been scouring the web for another high-protein seitan-like dish. I’ll let ya know what the hubby and I think of it!!!

Susan Kohut

Lauren Hartmann

March 27, 2018 at 3:42 pm

I’m not sure. I have not tried to freeze them, I will definitely have to test that out. I think it would work. It may change the texture, but I’m not 100% on that. I would recommend forming them into the size and shape “steaks” you want them in first. Then I think you would have no problem freezing them! Let me know if you try it out, in the mean time I think I will do the same!

Terri

April 11, 2018 at 11:06 pm

I made this tonight. The flavors were really good and it was pretty easy to make. Mine was still a little doughy on some of the patties. Did I not cook them long enough or knead long enough. I kneaded for about 7-8 min and cooked them for about 3-4 min on each side over medium heat until they were brown. How do you think they would do in the oven?

Lauren Hartmann

April 11, 2018 at 11:48 pm

I’m sorry to hear that. You can try making them thinner, or they will definitely work in the oven and get firm. So, if you are worried about texture I would try baking them. I do that frequently! I hope that helps and thank you for the feedback!❤

Lauren Hartmann

Sybille Stahl

June 3, 2018 at 6:35 pm

These are so good! It’s just me and my husband, so it was too much all at once and I froze the leftovers. They didn’t freeze well for me, but I used the frozen steak—gravy mixture, with the steaks fallen apart, in a vegetable stew, and it was rich and “meaty”, delicious.

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